Images of children washed up on a beach, newly erected border fences, and citizens welcoming arriving refugees in train stations have been populating our screens. They appeal to our compassion, but they also raise warnings of a populist backlash. This year’s Sakharov debate looks at Europe’s refugee crisis, and the response of the EU and its Member States to it. What remedies have been sought and why has an adequate response proved so elusive? Why and how have our various governments, and societies reacted so differently? How can one member state take in 1.5 million people and others next to none? What arguments are being made in favour of helping, or not helping, refugees from the Middle East and elsewhere?

Since 2007, the European Parliament LUX FILM PRIZE casts an annual spotlight on films that go to the heart of European public debate. The European Parliament believes that cinema, a mass cultural medium, can be an ideal vehicle for debate and reflection on Europe and its future.
When the European Parliament created the LUX FILM PRIZE, it decided to focus on distribution because it believes that this is “the Achilles heel of European cinema”. Unlike the largely unified North American market, the film industry in European countries faces huge organisational and economic difficulties which are worsened by language barriers.
The LUX FILM PRIZE has become a quality label backing European film productions. Its winning films have become hits within the EU and beyond. It has helped publicise films that might have otherwise been seen and discovered by few people and has put the spotlight on urgent topical issues.

04/12/2015

Research suggests that a fully functioning digital single market (DSM) could add up to £375 billion a year to the EU economy and many governments as well as the European Commission see it as one of the key planks of the reforms needed to boost competitiveness, growth and jobs. But the EU's digital markets remain very fragmented, with low levels of cross-border e-commerce. What new laws are required to capitalise on this potential? How should data protection and intellectual property be safeguarded? How should the EU go about establishing a single area for online payments or better protecting consumers in cyberspace?

The UK has 73 MEPs in the European Parliament, four of whom represent Wales. In September-October we will be hosting a series of small breakfast meetings for you to meet them and discuss the big EU-related topics ahead of the forthcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

The transformative pace of globalisation continues at breakneck speed, throwing up existential questions for decision-makers. The authors of “Global trends to 2030: Can the EU meet the challenges ahead?” by the inter-institutional European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) identify three on-going global revolutions - economic and technological; social and democratic, and geopolitical - and seek to distil how they and five big trends within them will shape the governance, markets and society of tomorrow.

Regent's University London has revised its original 2013 report, "The UK and Europe: Costs, Benefits, Options" in light of the upcoming referendum on continued UK membership of the EU and the significant implications the result will have on the UK and the EU as a whole. The updated and abridged report seeks to make a comprehensive, independent and non-political contribution to the debate, by exploring the policy areas at the heart of the relationship between the UK and the EU. The report's eminent academics and practitioners span a broad range of policy areas: from energy to migration, higher education to financial services and fisheries to foreign and security policy.

TTIP is one of the most eagerly scrutinized partnership agreements ever to make its way through the EU law-making machinery, with both passionate supporters and opponents. Its fans see it as a potentially monumental opportunity for small and midsize businesses to expand and for Europe to play to its commercial strengths, while those against see it as a full frontal assault on democracy and an attack on the European model that would lead to rule by corporations.

21/04/2015

Perhaps you've bought something online and are unsure where it comes from. Or maybe you read about the horse meat scandal in 2013 and grew concerned about the provenance of food. How do we know that the products we're using or eating in our homes are safe?

17/04/2015

The EPIO held a public event on new EU proposals to protect the rights and freedoms of the individual in respect to the protection of personal data. The proposals would also ensure the exchange of personal data between competent authorities in the EU.

30/03/2015

The EPIO was holding a public event on new EU proposals to enforce quicker bans on so-called legal highs from being sold to the public. The UK is the joint second highest consumer of legal highs in the EU, with 10% of 15-24 year olds having tried them at least once.